Albus Dumbledore never thought he would be the kind of man to feel pity for himself.

Pity for what, you ask?

Pity, because this was possibly the last winter he would experience. Pity, because even as a wrinkly old sorcerer who could meet his death any moment, all he wished for was to never forget the feel of snow falling on his face, as childish as it may seem.

After some minutes of peace.. of watching the snow-covered grounds of Hogwarts from the Astronomy Tower, he had returned to his study again. Pacing on and on, he did not bother to dust the snowflakes off his beard, letting them melt instead.

"The holidays are over. All the students would be back to the castle by tomorrow evening." He had been thinking to himself, when all of a sudden his sleeping Phoenix jolted itself awake.

"All right, Fawkes?" He asked, curious as to what had alerted him.

It only took him a moment before he burst apart into flames and disappeared with a shrill cry. And Dumbledore walked up to his perch, wondering what had called him as he brushed the ash off its surface.

Only a moment later the light returned, and a trembling figure fell to the floor, clutching her stomach, weeping, as if in some immense pain she could not explain.

Dumbledore rushed to her, and she looked up, panting. "What happened, dear?"

She weeped some more, pursing her lips, shaking her head as if terrified of telling him.

"Whatever it is, Asteria, I give you my word, we will go through together—"

She shook her head again, more furiously. But then her eyes widened, as if in realisation. And her legs found strength again. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of his study. Fawkes followed closely.

They rushed their way down. But Ria's misery was ahead of the both of them, dragging against the walls on both their sides, destroying the portraits while the residents inside were taken with surprise at the sudden attack. Though she didn't seem to mind, like all the other times.

Before he could comprehend, they were descending down the stairs in the dungeon. And then she stood him in front of the wall before the Slytherin common room.

"Asteria—"

She ignored him, parting the wall with a spell and then dragging him inside. The fire on Fawkes's wings lit the way.

She had not been this deep into the passageway before, she hadn't gotten the chance to. And she had always told her three best friends that they would go in together, solve the mystery someday. But she did not have time.

They stopped at one point, the main door closing behind them echoed against the stone walls, and then she turned to him, clutching at the sleeves of his purple robes with all the strength left in her.

"I saw it—" she cried. "I saw everything."

It was rare that Dumbledore was taken with surprise. It was rare that he was left with nothing to say.

"It— It felt so real— like I was living it.."

Ria kept repeating the two phrases, too scared, too confused as to where she should begin to unveil what she saw.

"Dear, what is it that you saw—"

"You fell!" She bellowed suddenly. "You fell— from the— And Severus, he—" Her nails drew crescents on the skin of his forearms. "I saw you die! I saw you die!"

Her knees felt frail, but Dumbledore held her upright, her tears wetting the fabric of his sleeve. He saw her fingertips darken; the dim light in the passageway darkening some more. But he chose to not speak.

"I— I know who that traitor is—" A primal growl left her, and when she looked up, she had dark veins appearing around her eyes. "It's [name] — It's been [name] from the start!"

The shock on Dumbledore's face must've been evident, because even he had not suspected the person that Ria had mentioned.

"And you were right! You were right— about everything!" Her eyebrows drew together with hurt. "I am what you said— and Lagarde knew! Only she knew— besides you and me!"

"I take it all! I take it— one by one! I feel the magic burn my skin— I feel it pile up— become one with me— I— I.."

Ria fell to the floor this time, and Dumbledore crouched with her. Her hands dug into the solid ground to find something to grab onto. Instead her fingers dragged and dragged across the rough surface, drawing blood which mixed with the streams of her tears.

"That's what the Seer's Curse is!" She whimpered. "It's— It's me— I am the Curse! Whether to the world— or to Voldemort— as she prophesied—-"

"But I— I don't know! I've seen the way it goes.. all of the ways! And they— they make me want to— want to.."

"I've seen them.. drop dead like flies.. some of their faces so scarred.. that I could barely recognise.." The light in the passageway dimmed some more.

She gripped at his sleeves again, as if asking for mercy. "I don't want to.. I don't want— to—" A shuddered cry left her; her eyes resembling the bloody sleeves in her hands. "End this— please! End it. End my suffering—"

Ria choked out into sobs again, screaming in agony when her barrier broke.. and the darkness approached the two of them, creeping closer before finally trying to take shape and attack, but—

"Stay back!"

She swung her wand through the air like a conductor, forcing the Obscurus to follow her lead, leaving it no other choice but to cower under her command.. to retrieve back to her.

Dumbledore refused to move his eyes. The light came back, and he could finally see the darkness leave her face. It remained at her fingertips, making them appear a deep maroon, but by the looks of it, he concluded that she could contain it.

Exhausted, she loosened her grip and chose to settle on the ground, her back leaned against the cold stone wall. She wiped away some of her tears and then looked at her fingers. They didn't hurt anymore. They were already healed.

"It's getting stronger." It was just acknowledgement from her side. She didn't know how she felt.

"You are getting stronger." said Dumbledore, crouching down to her level.

"I don't want to.." Her eyebrows cinched together again. "It's awful.. I can't handle it."

Dumbledore breathed out before asking the terrorising question. "You saw everything?"

And Ria gulped, before diving into each and every detail of her disastrous dream, every detail of what she experienced, how she felt— like she was stuck between existence and nothingness— like she was feeling all and nothing at once..

Like the universe had entered her.. opened all the doors of her mind.

Like she was on the brink of death before waking up.

Dumbledore was stunned by the end of it. "You saw everything." He repeated.

Whilst Ria felt defeated. "Everything." She stared up at the dark ceiling. "Up to the point to know that this power of— of foreseeing— isn't mine either."

She watched the realisation dawn on Dumbledore's face. And even though it didn't compare to any reaction that would've come from other people.. it was something from Dumbledore.

"That's why I can't handle it.. That's why I always felt like it was something separate— and not a part of me.." Her lower lip trembled. "I know. I know.. about the flow of events.. about the outcomes.." She sniffled. "That this reality— I can't change— But I can decide which path will come true. That I have the power to choose which outcome it will be— That is my role here. I have to make sure that it goes the way we want— but I can't handle it."

"I want to get rid of it— this burden of knowledge— of knowing—" Though she was interrupted.

"We can get rid of it."

His words were unexpected: the stare she gave him was proof of it.

"No.." Her voice trembled. "No— No, you can't.." She shook her head hopelessly. "Don't you understand? I can't get rid of it, even if I want to— This is my responsibility! If I do then— then.."

The faces flashed in front of her eyes again.. the images too, of the battle. And she closed her eyes with disgust. "I can't— I can't." She shook her head again, a bit stubbornly.

"And do you think this would work? You knowing the result of this decades long war?"

Ria didn't look at him, too angry at herself for the lack of a solution.

Of course, it wasn't going to work. She'd known it the moment she had woken up.

"No."

"Then.. did you think telling me would help?"

Her vision blurred again. "I hoped."

She was sure Dumbledore would think of her as naive.

But he did not. He could not.

"Asteria." He sighed. "I do not need this information. I am going to die anyway. But you.."

She looked at him, eyes wide with horror. "No.. No— I told you this so you could— you could—"

"So I could what? Save myself?" He chuckled. "Oh dear, I have no intentions of doing that."

And Ria felt betrayed for a moment. She'd felt all this regret about hating him, cursing him, mistrusting every move of his, but he—

He knew.

He knew and that meant..

"Severus is not..?"

Dumbledore shook his head, and Ria did not know why she had felt such relief. But there was still this.. this sense of terror and caution eating away at her.

"I can't know.." She said. "And you know the reason why.."

He smiled, somewhat sadly. "Only a fool wouldn't." He then tilted his head. "Do you think of me as a fool, Asteria?"

Ria didn't need to think even a moment, but waited before shaking her head anyway.

Albus Dumbledore was sometimes despicable. Frustrating. He was almost always hard to read. But he wasn't a fool.

"What do I have to do?"

And an easy answer came to his mind. A trick.. one he had used some months ago, but did not remember.

The one where he and Asteria had removed specific memories from each other's minds at the same time, leaving no trace of the memories, nor of the spell used in the trick.

It was successful obviously, given the fact that in his mind, he had thought of this trick just now.

He told her the process, and after a moment of contemplation, Ria stood to her feet, her wand pointed at the man in front.

"Just one more question before we proceed, Asteria.." Dumbledore started. "Why.. out of all the places that could exist.. did you bring us here?"

Ria lowered her wand, remembering again, bringing the pieces from her dream. "When Severus came here to save me.. he almost died, but not because of some spell that Lagarde had cast."

"It was me." She gulped, expecting some sort of guilt to hit her. But it did not. "My Obscurus. He couldn't defend himself only because his magic didn't work, even though he tried."

"Azrael Ackerman painted his entire chamber with his own blood, and casted ancient spells, so that anyone else's magic would be nullified. Of no use." Ria explained. "So if the rest of the founders ever caught the scent of his deeds, he'd be safe from them."

"We.. are the exception, of course." She lifted her chin, eyeing him with a bit of venom. "With his blood in our veins."

There was a ghost of a smile on Dumbledore's face. "Oh.. you found out?"

And Ria shrugged, far too concerned with other things to be angry with him. "Morrigan's second child being a Squib, being safe from Azrael's soul.. Her promising her children that a Phoenix would appear to them in times of dire need.. You.. knowing the true story of Azraels.. All the pieces fit a bit too well."

Something twinkled in his eyes, perhaps the reflection of the flames from his Phoenix. "You truly are like her—"

"Like my grandmother."

She had never called her that.. out of a bit of adoration, to say the least. But she felt like she knew Lagarde a little bit better now.

The power of foresight Ria had.. it was cautious because she had an enemy. It would show her only bits and pieces because if everything was to be revealed, they would worsen things with that knowledge.

The same power in the hands of someone born to yield them.. it could drive anyone mad.

So yes.. she did feel a bit pitiful towards Lagarde.

"Shall we go over it once again?" He asked suddenly, dragging her out of her thoughts. "We use the Memory Charm, at the same time, to cast out only specific memories out of our mind."

Ria nodded. That dream was better off forgotten than at risk of being found out by Carrow.

If things went right.. she could even get them back.

"After that happens, Fawkes will stun us and send us back to where we were before you dreamt of the entirety." The Phoenix screeched in response to his command.

She nodded again, raising her wand again. "Right.. I'm ready."

Dumbledore nodded back, noticing a different aura around Asteria Edwards as he did the same. She had come to him all broken, and was now leaving with some sort of resolve in her eyes.. like that dream had awakened something in her.

"I wish you well for your mission, Asteria."

And when the spell came from both the sides, Fawkes burst into a blinding light—

Ria woke up with a jolt. It was cold, hell even snowing outside. Still she couldn't figure out why, for the love of God, she felt like she was being boiled alive.

She went to toss the blanket off her body, but felt surprised when it was already down on the floor. She sat up in her bed, but the mere action made her feel tired. She gulped, her throat as dry as sand. Staring at her hands, she thought and thought, trying to recall because something felt missing.

She couldn't.

She tried for a minute before giving up because it gave her a headache, and reached for the glass of water on the nightstand only to find it empty.

Ria clicked her tongue with annoyance. Doing a spell wasn't reliable because she'd almost always overdo it. And she didn't have the strength to clean a mess, at the moment.

She didn't feel like going all the way to the kitchen, but she couldn't go to sleep feeling this thirsty either. So she did anyway.

It almost took her an eternity to get there; she felt, for she was tired and could move very little because of that.

She fetched a goblet from nearby and kept it beside the pitcher. She had to use both her hands to lift it because suddenly, it felt heavier than ever before. Perhaps it was just filled to the brim. But it fell from her hand with a loud clunk, spilling water on the ground, and a weird sound of annoyance left Ria's mouth.

It wasn't long before Amos came rushing with his wand lit before him. "Oh.. it's just you."

"Just wanted water." She mumbled, rubbing at her neck when the words scratched at her throat harshly.

She watched as Amos cleared the mess with a flick of his wand before handing her a goblet full of water. "Thank you."

He rested his hand on her forehead, and then under her jaw. He hissed. "Helga's sake.. Ria, you're burning up."

"Hmm? Am I?" She asked. No wonder she was acting like something had just drained the entire energy out of her.

"Yeah.. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I found out just now." She said, bit relieved after some sips. "I can't breathe properly either. And my throat hurts."

Amos nodded. "Come on. I'll give you medicine. You'll be okay with a day's rest."

She kept the goblet aside, then checked the clock. "Six already? I'm supposed to leave for Hogwarts in a few hours."

"Oh, leave it. They can wait another day." Her uncle assured. "I'm not letting you go while you're sick."

And Ria nodded, letting him guide her back to her room.

"And there— I'm thinking, I don't use it much anyway, so why not— Blaise, can you pay attention, please?" Ria frowned. "Have you listened to a word I've said?"

"Yeah, yeah— I have, Ri. I just.." He eyed the parchment. "Wow.. you've thought a lot about this, haven't you?"

Ria chuckled. "Of course, I have. I want us to win, Blaise."

She had felt better after a good sleep, to be fair, so she had returned to Hogwarts on the next day itself, at afternoon.

"So.. as I was saying. Maryam will be using my Firebolt for practice, as well as her Nimbus. But.. but we won't reveal her skill with the Firebolt until the final match—"

"Assuming we make it to the final match."

"Of course, we will!" She smacked his arm, and he was again reminded that she was still the same Ria, despite everything else. "Like I told you. Amelia, Raywood and you will be training harder so we can exceed in terms of points. Doesn't matter if the opponent is miles away from catching up to us. Keep scoring."

"Aye, aye, Captain." He mused.

"So the next match is between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Doesn't matter who wins, we'll be competing next with the losing team. And Gryffindor will go against the winning team." She theorised. "Now.. if we win the next match by a major point difference— which we can make happen, if Maryam was to delay catching the snitch— we'll play the fifth match of the season too. If we win that one too— again, with a major point difference, we can open up a path to finals with two straight wins— what, what are you smiling about?"

Blaise looked at her. "Oh.. uh, nothing."

Ria blinked. "No. Now you have to tell me."

"Nothing. I just said, didn't I?"

It felt nice to see her not sulking. Maybe the Christmas holiday had done her good.

Her shoulders slumped, and she pointed at the doorway. "Get out."

"What? Why?" His smile disappeared.

"No, if you're not going to listen to me, and not even tell me what's keeping you distracted, then we'll discuss things later. Or I'll just discuss them with 'Melia. So, get out."

"No, no— I'll listen to you, I promise."

"Then tell me!" She whined.

"Well.. er— just remembered today's Potions class." He answered, pretty randomly, and when she raised a questioning eyebrow, he had to think for a moment before continuing again. "You weren't there, right.. We were asked to brew antidotes for poison. Guess what Potter did?"

Right.. with that Prince's book. Ria almost rolled her eyes, her hand mindlessly drawing doodles in the corner of the parchment where she had laid out plans. "What did he do?"

"He handed Slughorn a bezoar."

Ria scoffed at him. "Perfectly good solution. What's funny about that?"

Blaise sighed out. "You don't realise, do you?" He said. "He did the same thing as you. Remember fourth-year?"

"Ah.." She nodded. "He wasn't even there though.. Went for the interview with that beetle."

"Beetle?"

"Skeeter. I said Skeeter."

"Oh.. right. Yeah." Blaise nodded. "Soulmate things, huh?"

Ria gave him a long stare before smacking his arm again. "Here I am discussing important stuff, and this is what you wanna talk about?!"

"Ow— why's your face all red, then?" Blaise chuckled, earning a jab to his side this time.

"I'm starting to think he might die of assault from you before old age gets him."

Theodore's voice caught the both of them off-guard. And Ria paused whatever she was doing, just out of sheer shock. She waited a moment.. waited for Theodore to realise that Blaise was here, and for him to spin around and leave.

But he didn't.

He must've caught the expression on her face, because he took a deep breath before beginning. "Ri.. I've come here to apologise."

"Apologise?" She repeated, and Theo nodded. "What for?"

"What for?" He asked rhetorically. "For being a downright dickhead to you after going through one simple dilemma even though you've been there for me since we've met!"

"You saved me from all the prejudice and bias my father raised me with. Became my closest friend.. that I could show so much trust in, I didn't hesitate running off and coming to you when I wanted to find somewhere safe." He shook his head. "You do realise— I came to you when.. when I almost had the Dark Mark.. knowing that you had so much anger against the wizards bearing this mark." 

"I still came to you because I knew you wouldn't hold it against me, because that's how you are. And still.. one minor inconvenience, and I ran off with my tail between my legs."

"You didn't deserve that.." He said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not being by your side when you might've needed me."

Ria only blinked, looking at Blaise, then back towards Theo. "So.. you're not gonna leave as if you've just seen your husband's second wife that you loathe?"

He snorted. "We're over that fight, Ria."

Surprised, she looked at Blaise, while he looked at the boy in front of them. "We are?"

And Theo gave him a fleeting look that Ria didn't catch. "We are. Yeah." Blaise nodded at her.

"Really?" A grin adorned her face, and when he nodded, she left her seat and tackled him into a hug. "That is great, Theo! Merlin, finally!" She glanced back at Blaise.

"You'll forgive me, right?" He asked again.

"It wasn't like I was holding a grudge against you in the first place, but yeah! Of course." She nodded. "Oh, good, now that both of you are here—" She dragged Theodore and sat him down beside Blaise. "I've brought sweets from back home."

With that, she rushed joyfully into her room, leaving the two boys behind in the dorm room outside. Theo sighed, feeling as if someone had lifted a burden off his chest.

"So.. we're over that fight, huh?" Blaise broke the momentary silence.

And without looking at him, Theo nodded. "Yeah."

"So suddenly?"

"It was pointless anyway." He said. "And Ria wasn't happy."

"It's for Ria, then?" asked Blaise, as he continued looking at the boy who wouldn't meet his eyes.

He nodded again, and it was as if all the times she had fallen sick or fainted came rushing to his mind.

He had thought over it during those few days of holiday. Something told him that when Ria was almost trying to shut all the people out of her life, he was one of the few that got to see her suffering up close.. the one that heard her crying from her room, failing to comfort herself.. even isolating herself from Cassie and Jude, who she loved whole-heartedly.

And now, when he was caught up in his own problems, he didn't know how many hours she had wasted of her life already, looking over things that she believed were her responsibility.. maybe even blamed herself for some of them.

He was the only outsider she had allowed in her life. Maybe there was a reason for that.

Maybe she wanted someone she could depend on, despite her fears.. and if it was true, he couldn't let her down.

"We're not talking over what happened between us, Zabini." He said. "Let's just—"

"Get over it, already?" He asked.

"Yeah, for the love of God." Theo chuckled as he watched Ria return with her hands full. "We weren't in our right minds, anyway.. like you said." He looked at him, and watched as the expression on his face almost faltered. 

But Blaise only nodded. "Right."

The two boys then listened as she ranted on and on about what they had missed out on, while all three munched on their usual holiday cinnamon rolls from the Diggory house. 

Though Theo and Blaise couldn't help but miss the fourth member of their Quad, who would've been sitting beside Ria, hogging most of the rolls for herself because she had the sweetest tooth of them all. 

Sigh. Sophie Scamander; the one who would've brought the two boys on line way earlier than it had taken in reality.

Heavens, they did miss her a lot, even though they rarely talked about it. Perhaps she'd return once everything had turned alright again.. once the danger of Voldemort had diminished completely, for one and all.

Though for now, they enjoyed the revival of the little gremlin rambler that Ria'd always had inside her.

Harry sat in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room as he waited for Hermione.

He had tried— really, really tried to ignore whatever the hell Ron and Lavender had been doing on the seat beside him, but the way Lavender baby-talked the shit out of Ron, he could hardly contain his amused smile.

He tried to think about the Apparition lessons that were about to commence for those around the age of 17. He tried to listen to whatever quiet argument that had been going on between Celine Haynes and Louis Bonheur. He even tried to pay attention to the loud argument between Dean and Ginny, trying to figure out if he could help them in some way.

Only when Parvati Patil called Lavender and took her up to their room, did Harry feel like he could breathe a bit freely. And it looked like Ron felt the same way.

"See you soon, Won-Won!" Her call reached them across the room, and Harry almost snorted out loud, silencing himself only when Ron gave him a piercing glare.

"What?"

"Nothing." He shrugged. "Nothing at all."

The sound of the portrait opening made him turn, and Hermione entered. Harry waved at her, but as soon as her eyes fell on Ron, her expression hardened. And she spun right around to leave.

Oh for fuck's sake, when will this end?

"I'll be back." said Harry, getting up already and following her outside.

Seriously, he had many things on his mind.. many things he wanted to discuss with them. But because they even refused to be in each other's presence, he had to repeat all the things to them separately.

For example, the recent lesson he had with Dumbledore, just a day before.

Harry had told him about the Minister; had gotten the answer that he probably wanted to win people's confidence. And make sure that Ria was still on their side. Which.. was questionable because they hadn't done a thing for Ria to ever be on their side in the first place.

Then, he had mentioned eavesdropping on Snape and Malfoy. But Dumbledore had the same response as Remus and Sirius. And the words had come to his mind again..

Trust Dumbledore's judgement, if not his actions.

What if both were equally frustrating though?

Then there was this memory he had shown him..

"Sir, is it true that Professor Merrythought is retiring?" A sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle asked, surrounded by five other boys from Slytherin.

A much younger, more smartly dressed Slughorn sat at the other end of the table. He chuckled, wagging a sugar-encrusted finger at him. "Now, Tom, I couldn't tell you if I knew, could I? I must say, m'boy, I'd like to know where you get your information. More knowledgeable than half the staff, you are." He laughed, and so did the boys.

"By the way, thank you for the pineapple sweets. You're quite right, it is my favourite. How is it you knew?"

Riddle had a sly smile on his face. "Intuition." Though his expression told nothing similar.

Slughorn chuckled, then sighed as he looked at the clock. "Good gracious, look at the time. Off you go, boys, or Professor Dippett will have us all in detention. Lestrange, Avery, don't forget your essays.."

They filed out one by one, and Slughorn was about to busy himself into some papers when a clink made him turn. Riddle was still there, standing by the crystal hourglass on his table.

"Look sharp, Tom." He said. "You don't want to be caught out of bed after hours.."

"I know a secret shortcut or two." He said.

Slughorn managed a weak smile. "Yes, I imagine you do. Something on your mind?"

"Yes, sir." Riddle began, his tone of a curious child. "I couldn't think of anyone else to go to. The other professors, well, they're not like you. They might... misunderstand."

He nodded. "Go on."

"I was in the library the other night, in the Restricted section," he began, fiddling with the black stone ring on his finger. "And I read something rather odd, about a bit of rare magic, and I thought perhaps you could illuminate me. It's called.. as I remember, a Horcrux."

Suddenly, the expression on Slughorn's face flipped. And Harry doubted if expressions could really change this fast.

"I don't know anything about such things and I wouldn't tell you if I did!" He bellowed, and Riddle immediately turned to walk out. "Now get out of here at once and don't ever let me catch you mentioning it again!"

He found Hermione outside the common room. "So.. did you talk to Slughorn today?" She asked.

Harry grimaced. Dumbledore had also told him that it had been Slughorn's memory.. a false one. One which had been tampered with. He had been asked to retrieve his true memory.

"It didn't work." Harry answered, kind of regretting his straight-forwardness. He had been too obvious with it. "I told him I wanted to know what a Horcrux is. And he figured right away that Dumbledore was behind it."

Hermione huffed. "Well.. be careful. You don't want to lose your 'Potion Prince' privilege now, do you?"

He gave her an outright glare. "You'd love that, wouldn't you?"

But she just rolled her eyes, hitting the back of his head. "Yes. Yes, I would. But being his favourite is probably how Riddle got whatever information he wanted, I suppose. Maybe if you push the right buttons, it would work for you too."

"Ah.. right." He nodded. "Anyway— erm— how's Ria?"

Hermione only shrugged though. "She's fit. Didn't even look like she had the flu and was.. burning with high fever, like Mr. Diggory told you."

Harry nodded thoughtfully.

"You think something else happened?" she asked.

He took a pause. "Well.. no. Not really—" He wasn't sure. "It's no surprise she got better in a day.. like we live in a magical world.. And she heals pretty quickly, but—"

"Or are you nervous?" She interrupted. "It's true that Ria's been ignoring you like plague ever since Ms. Diggory's death."

And Harry blinked. Yeah.. right. He hadn't told her or Ron about those encounters yet.

"Hmm.. anyway—"

"You know you could've just seen her yourself." Hermione interrupted. "You even had your usual excuse of 'sharing information that you received in Dumbledore's lesson', so—"

"No." Harry said. "No. No way in absolute hell, am I telling Ria this." He chuckled sarcastically.

She knitted her eyebrows together. "What? Why?" She seemed a bit outraged, really. "I know she doesn't read nearly as much as I do.. but there was a chance she knows what a Horcrux is—"

Hermione began walking, but Harry quickly caught up to stop her. "What?"

"Don't tell her." He bellowed.

"Why though?"

Harry's shoulders slumped. "Tell me, when you went to her dorm, what was she doing?"

Hermione blinked with confusion. "She was with Zabini."

Whatever that was on Harry's tongue went flying out of the window of his brain. "With Zabini?"

Hermione nodded. "Yeah. With Zabini. And Nott. It slipped my mind because I noticed him later."

And Harry didn't know why he sighed out of relief. "Oh.. they got over their grudge, then, I suppose? Nott and Zabini?"

"Think so."

"What were they doing?" He asked, curiously.

She shrugged. "Studying."

Harry's mouth dropped into an 'oh'. "Studying, okay. Erm— studying what?"

She clicked her tongue. "How would I know what they're studying?"

Harry sighed. "Listen, 'Mione. All she does, these days in her free time, is scribbling away in some notebook." He answered. "And I know it's either something about Lagarde's Curse, or her Curse, or Azraels, or—"

"Okay, okay, I get your point." She said, nodding furiously as she realised Harry had always been this protective over Ria. "You don't want to give her something else to worry about."

He nodded. "Exactly. And I know, there might be a chance she knows what a Horcrux is. Maybe I'll bring it up in a conversation.. in such a way that won't make her go off spiralling to find out what it is—"

"Right, okay— I get it!" Hermione rushed, but then a thought dawned in her head. "Wait.. now that I think about it.. she wasn't really studying."

Harry raised an interrogative eyebrow. "She was discussing something with the two of them. Stopped immediately when I came in." She shrugged then. "It could be anything though. Also.. she seemed weirdly relaxed while talking to me. Not that— her being relaxed is weird. But you know how tense she's been ever since the entire reveal about her being an Azrael?"

"It could be a good thing though. Well, yeah! Maybe it is a good thing. It's not much to think about. Nevermind that, how are you going to deal with.."

True, it wasn't much to think about.. for Hermione.

But who was going to save Harry from going into a spiral thinking about it?

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